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BMW’s new sport-tourer – S1000XR

BMW will debut a new bike this fall, a Multistrada-like sport-tourer with adventure bike styling, an extension of the S1000RR superbike and S1000R naked sportsbike platforms.

Spy photos suggest an attractive bike, and given the category-topping performance of the other BMW sportbikes, the XR variant could be the best of class again. BMW has been able to put class-leading horsepower in a nimble chassis, with breakthrough electronics (see the HP4). That formula is sought to be replicated with the new bike.

The bike may have the semi-active suspension that debuted upon the HP4. That bike means quick going can be had, never having to adjust the HP4’s suspension, instead its automatically gives the rider the optimum settings, so it handled as well as you could ever set-up a standard S1000RR. The question will: all well and good on a smooth racetrack, but will it work in a combination of rough roads and off-roads? The real test of semi-active suspension was always going to be in the adventure bike/sport-tourer segment, where riders expect performance, pavement or not.